Thursday, January 27, 2011

On Saturday morning I started spotting. I was putting laundry in the washer when I felt a small amount of liquid gush out. I've been having a lot of discharge lately (another unexpected pregnancy surprise) so I naturally assumed it was that. But my thighs felt sticky and when I looked in my pajama pants they were splattered with blood.

Obviously it freaked me out a bit so I called hubby, who was on his way home, to let him know I wanted to go to the hospital. I lay down to see if the baby was still moving (it's at its best when I'm flat on my back) and, sure enough, it was kicking like normal. Every ten minutes I checked to see if the bleeding was stopping and, sure enough, it was. I didn't have any cramping either.

After some reflection on my last visit to the hospital for spotting, and the 3 hour wait only to hear I needed to come back for an ultrasound the next day, I decided to wait and only go if it got worse. An hour later, it was pretty much done and everything seemed back to normal. We were both a little shaken but after some reading we figured it was tied to some "intimate" time the previous week.

I certainly didn't expect it to happen again on Tuesday! I was getting ready for bed and the "gush" came again, this time a lot more blood and a sizable clot. THAT really freaked me out. I called hubby and told him to get home quick, this time we WERE going to the hospital.

He made it home in 15 minutes (it should've taken closer to 30) and while I waited I cleaned myself up and started packing a bag in case they made me stay. I didn't have any cramping and the baby was moving fine, but I was concerned the clot was my mucous plug or part of the placenta. I managed to retrieve the clot and put it in a sandwich bag (gross I know!) in case the doctor wanted to see it.

We arrived at the hospital and the Emerg receptionist immediately sent us to Obstetrics (thank goodness we pre-registered a few weeks ago). They hooked me up to a monitor that tracked the baby's heart rate, movement and uterine contractions. The baby was literally breakdancing and its heartbeat was strong. The nurse pointed out I was having some cramping, but because I couldn't feel it, she concluded it was Braxton Hicks. They were concerned I was in preterm labour and wanted to rule it out.

After an hour of monitoring, they said I was fine and should have an ultrasound the next day to discover the cause of the bleeding. They also recommended I get steroid shots to boost baby's lung development in case I delivered early (I was 31 weeks on Tuesday). I had to get them 24 hours apart and they would take 48 hours to start working. They assured me that they wouldn't hurt the baby, nor would there be any side effects for me. While I'm not a fan of unnecessary drugs, this was one situation where we weren't about to argue with the doctor....she knows best!

We left the hospital at 2am exhausted and a little stressed. We returned at 1pm that day for the ultrasound. Thankfully it was good news. The technician couldn't figure out why I was bleeding, my cervix wasn't dilated, my placenta placement was good and there were no internal bleeds. She even mentioned that baby's measuring 33-34 weeks, which means it's bigger than it should be right now. That gives me comfort (in addition to worrying about tearing - ouch!) that if baby arrives early, we should be ok.

I then got the first steroid shot (ouch! in the butt and it stings for about 20 mins after) before heading home to rest. I was back to work today before heading back for the second steroid shot this afternoon.

What a crazy couple days! I'm glad everything worked out, and it was also a good reality check on how prepared we are for baby's arrival. Generally we're in good shape, the room is coming together and we have diapers and supplies to get us through a week or two, and a bassinet for baby to sleep in. But I realized I didn't have a diaper bag or a car seat, two pretty important items to survive the hospital stay and bring baby home!

Now I'm focused on tying up as many loose ends as possible in case baby decides it would rather be born in February than March! Fingers crossed it finds a comfy spot to settle for the next 8-9 weeks!

2 comments:

Glad everything is OK Sheri, that was quite the scare! You're in good hands with the doctors, just follow your gut and don't worry about bugging them if you feel something is off. All you need after you give birth is the car seat. The rest is just gravy! Take care!

That must have been so scary. Especially the fact that you still don't know why you were bleeding is scary! Hopefully baby will stop with all of the drama and stick around in there for a lot longer! :)

About Me

In 2006 I married my best friend. In 2009 we decided to start our family and became pregnant in October. I gave birth to Olivia in March 2010, born still at 27 weeks due to amniotic band syndrome complications. We welcomed Noah, a gorgeous and healthy baby boy in March 2011. This is our journey from couple to family.